Hand stamp



Oct. 19, 1937. s. E. RICHESON HAND STAMP Filed July 24, 1956 SA NFORD E. RlcHssoN INVENTOR.

BY 9 /Mwww A TT ORNE Y.

Patented Oct. 19, 1937 ,umrso STATES PATENT vrites a V 1 v 2,096,340

HAND STAMP" Sanford E. RichesonpN ew llork, N. Y. Application Jui'y zi, 1936,. Serial No;. 92,365

V 2 Claims. (01.101-111) H .Tliis invention relates to hand stamps and par- I ticularly to devices for protecting checks, drafts and negotiable instruments against fraudulently I altering the amounts shown thereon.

Another'object of my invention is to print. the

numbers andJsymbols in such a manner that the erasure ofsame becomes extremely difficult. For this purpose I provide my hand stamp with a a manually. operable perforating device, wherewith to; penetrate the freshly printed" symbols, carrying a'certain amount of the. still wet ink into the body-of the paper; thereby making alterations i of the printed letters and symbols still more difficult."

Another object'offmy invention is to provide a convenienthollow base for'my device, the base having insidej'air'ink' pad, the printing endof .j. the stamp beingiheld abovethe pad by springs,

the resistance of which can be easily overcome by applying pressure on the stamp, thereby inking the exposed characters.

' Another. object of my invention is to provide means for adjusting the characters without touching them by fingers, so as to prevent ink stains on the fingers.

, Other objects not here enumerated will be re- "ferred to in the accompanying specification and in the claims, also inthe drawing in which- Fig. l. is a partly sectional front elevation of my hand stamp with check protector.

Fig. 2 is a sectional side View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partly sectional rear view of the I same.

Fig. 4 is a view of a row of characters arranged in line as seen at the bottom part of the device.

Fig. 5 is a front view of a portion of the housing plate.

Fig. 6 is a side view of the same.

' f Fig. 7 is a detail View of a modified belt for the characters.

.My hand stamp consists of a housing or casing land a housing plate2, both of which can be cast, molded or stamped of sheet metal. The plate 2 has channel-shaped grooves 4 formed at its lower corners, these grooves engaging a flange 5 anther bottom of the narrow side of the casing l2 Plate 2 is made to fit into a recess 3 therear' edgeof the housing l.

Thehousing holds a printing mechanism. The latter. comprises a lower belt shaft 1, an upper beltv shaft 8, and a control shaft 9. All these shaftsv are supported in respective brackets I 0, I i and. i2. These brackets may be formed by stamping them out integrally with the plate 2 and bending at right angles thereto.

Both belt shafts 5 and 6 are provided with a seriesv of. independently rotatable pinions l3. Each set of two pinions located opposite each other on both shafts, carry an endless character belt M1,.which is provided with printing blocks H5. The front faces of most of these blocks are shown. as squares having lines or serrations, surroundingrsunken or carved-Out symbols I7, located preferably in the center of each square, as shown in-Fig. 4. The blocks therefore print squares with white central symbols.

The serrations on the blocks 15,- printing crosshatched: squares; on. the face of checks, for instance,. render erasures or alterations very difficult, and such erasures or alterations can be easily detected.

' 'Iheprinting blocks are joined together to form an endless belt M, either by casting the latter in one piece, as of rubber, for instance, as shown in Fig. 2, or they may be made of metal and fastened individually to chain links l8, these links being hinged together to form an endless chain belt, as shown in part in Fig. 7.

The rear portion of the printing block [5 has an extension in the shape of a tooth l9, adapted to enter corresponding tooth spaces in the pinions is. The pinions are made wider than the belts and they extend to one side, so that the free portions of the pinions can engage adjust- 'ment gears or discs 20. The latter can turn on a. shaft 9 and are provided with side drums or cylinders 22!, on the periphery of which are I printed numerals or symbols corresponding to the numerals or symbols on the belts. These drums serve therefore as indicators for setting the desired symbols in the printing position at the end of the stamp. For this purpose the front wall of the housing has slots or windows 23 through which one symbol at a time can. be seen, corresponding to the symbol on the belt located at the bottom of the device and ready for printa ing. Longitudinal slots 22 are also provided in housing l by screws 26.

the front wall for portions of the adjusting gears 20, so that they can be manually turned. With this arrangement the desired sequence of numbers or symbols can be quickly and easily set into the printing position, another advantage being that the fingers do not come in contact with the printing characters, and it is easier to read directly printed symbols on the drums than their inked counterpart on the belts.

The adjusting or setting arrangement described is especially desirable in certain types of-hand stamps where a quick and efficient change is desired or where frequent changes are necessary.

The mechanism described thus affords a simple and effective means for quickly adjusting the character belts and placing their symbols in any combination desired. Since the leverage is greater than that of other known constructions, the characters will move further on a turn than those of ordinary types of hand stamps in which the adjusting discs; are mounted directly on the upper belt shaft.

The perforating device, as shown in combination with the stamp, is located at the rear or outer surface of the housing plate Zand comprises a perforating lever or member 25 fastened to the handle portion of the housing plate 2 and to the The latter are held and tightened by nuts 2? placed in recesses 28. The lower and wider portion of the perforating member 25 has on its inner surface, pressed or stamped out therefrom, a number of sharp projections or triangular teeth 29, which correspond to an equal number of sharp projections 39, substantially of the same shape, protruding from the outer surface of the housing plate 2.

The pointed projections 29, 30, areshown enlarged in Fig. 3 for the sake of clearness. It is understood, however, that these projections can be made smaller and proportionate to the sizes of the printed letters which these points are made to perforate.

It will be seen that the perforating device will a cut numerous holes from both sides into the pre-' viously inked paper. By perforating freshly inked paper, a certain amount of this ink will be forced into the body of the paper, so that any subsequent alterations or erasures will be very difficult, and if made, will be easily detected.

The hand stamp when not in use is placed in a supporting hollow base 3|. An ink pad of an ordinary construction 32 is placed at the bottom of the base. Vertical springs 33 hold the stamp in the base at a certain height above the pad. This arrangement provides a convenient supporting means for the stamping device and also protouch the pad. The stamp may be then withdrawn for printing on checks or other paper which it is desired to protect. a

My stamp has an advantage that it can be used by any one, as no special skill or training is required for its operation. Its construction is very simple, its cost being correspondingly low, so that my device can be afforded by any one who is in a position to write checks or similar commercial paper.

It is understood, of course, that my hand stamp can be modified in its practical embodiments.

within the scope; 'of' my invention as set forth in the appended claims. e

I claim as my invention:

l. A hand stamp comprising a plate, lugs ex-.

tending from. the side edges of the plate at right angles thereto and provided with holes in their ends, shafts supported in the holes, pinions on the shafts, flexible belts on the pinions having printing characters, Wheels operatively connected with the pinions and adapted to be manually turned, and a cover in the form of ahousing enclosing the pinions and having openings for the wheels, the cover being attached to the plate by its edges.

2. A hand stamp comprising a plate, lugs ex-' tending from the plate at right angles, shafts supported on the lugs, pinions on the shafts, flexible belts with printing characters supported on the pinions, wheels for turning the pinions, a cover in the form of a housing open at one side fitted 

